The Little Rascals
''The Little Rascals '' is a title given by Hal Roach to the 1929–38 period of his Our Gang comedy films. Hanna-Barbera produced an animated series of The Little Rascals for ABC in the early 1980s as part of a 90-minute omnibus with Pac-Man and Richie Rich. Due to fragmented ownership of the Our Gang properties, and a lawsuit in which Eugene Lee accused Hanna-Barbera of using his likeness without authorization, the Little Rascals cartoons have never been rerun on cable in the United States or released to home video. Voice Cast The six principal voice actors were: * Peter Cullen as Pete the Pup and Officer Ed * Patty Maloney as Darla Hood * Julie McWhirter Dees as Alfalfa, Porky and Woim * Scott Menville as Spanky * Shavar Ross as Buckwheat * B.J. Ward as Butch and Waldo Additional voice actors: Richard Balin, Jered Barclay, Julie Bennett, Susan Blu, William Callaway, Brian Cummings, Jeff Doucette, Peggy Frees, Phil Hartman, Ery Immerman, Kip King, Earl Kress, Sherry Lynn, Larry D. Mann, Kenneth Mars, Joseph Medalis, Robert Ridgely, Michael Sheehan, Gary Stamm, Jeffrey Tambor, Russi Taylor, Lennie Weinrib, Jimmy Weldon, Frank Welker, Ted Zeigler Production Credits * Executive producers: William Hanna and Joseph Barbera * Directors: George Gordon, Bob Hathcock, Carl Urbano, Rudy Zamora * Musical director: Hoyt Curtin * Musical supervisor: Paul DeKorte * Writers: Tedd Anasti, Doug Booth, Patsy Cameron, Rowby Goren, Earl Kress Changes from the Theatrical Shorts Despite the involvement of King World in the production of the animated TV series, there are significant departures from the Our Gang theatrical shorts: * Most obvious is the inclusion of 1980s culture and technology, such as multi-channel commercial television and microcomputers. In "Trash Can Treasures", Buckwheat acquires a microcomputer, on which Spanky asks him to find a place to invest his money. Buckwheat ends up drawing a Pac-Man–style maze on the computer's screen, suggesting that Spanky look for a place to hide his money. * The Rascals have meetings in a treehouse and drive around their town in a wooden vehicle, with Pete hitched in front. * Buckwheat is now portrayed as a gadgeteer, building complex devices from scavenged components. * In the original films, Darla typically wore miniskirts, which were short enough to expose her underwear. In the cartoons, she wears a knee-length skirt. Also, her hair is a lighter brown in an updated style, and her eyes have been changed from hazel to blue. * Though Pete does not talk and usually acts like a real dog, his reactions and mannerisms often resemble those of Scooby-Doo. For instance, Pete has been shown handling objects with his paws, such as a ruler to measure one of Porky's sandwiches. * Waldo is now implied to come from a wealthy family. This was seldom mentioned in the original shorts, but it carried over to the 1994 feature film. Episodes In the 1982/83 season, each installment of The Pac-Man/Little Rascals/Richie Rich Show included two 11-minute episodes of The Little Rascals and one 30-second cartoon, whose title was not shown onscreen. In the 1983/84 season, The Monchhichis/Little Rascals/Richie Rich Show included nine new 11-minute Little Rascals cartoons, combined with four reruns from the previous season, one per week. The selection of reruns from the previous season may have been determined by ratings. Long Cartoons, 1982/83 # Rascals' Revenge/Yachtsa' Luck # Grin and Bear It/Beauty Queen for a Day # Big City Rascals/Alfalfakazam! # Showdown at the Rascal Corral/Poached Pooch # Porky-O and Julie-Et/Just Desserts # Alfalfa for President/Rock & Roll Rascals # The Irate Pirates/All the Loot That's Fit to Print # Alfalfa's Athlete's Feat/Darla's Dream Dance # Cap'n Spanky's Showboat/The Case of the Puzzled Pals # Falling Heir/Flim Flam Film Fans # Trash Can Treasures/King of the Hobos # Tiny Terror/Science Fair and Foul # Big Top Rascals/Class Act Long Cartoons, 1983/84 # Wash and Werewolf # Save Our Treehouse! # Horse Sense # After Hours # Tiny Terror (repeat) # A Not So Buenos Días # Class Act (repeat) # Fright Night # Porky-O and Julie-Et (repeat) # The Big Sneeze # Pete's Big Break # Cap'n Spanky's Showboat (repeat) # The Zero Hero Short Cartoons # Fish Fright # The Serenade # Scoop Dupes # Ice Escapades # No Hit Wit # A Swimming We Will Go # The Spare # Fiscal Fitness # Go Cart Go # Do or Diet # Out on a Limb # Sea Song # He Who Runs Away Category:Hanna-Barbera shows Category:ABC shows Category:Cartoons not yet on DVD